If you haven’t already noticed, BMW is on the upswing. New cars, new technology, and a loads of new cash. And like any well-qualified automaker, the idea of a high-powered, high-stakes supercar is something that leaves most engineers and designers foaming at the mouth.

So, an M8 supercar- is it something that BMW is truly considering? Well, if reports from Carsales.com.au are any indication, it very well may be the next big vehicle headed for the BMW lineup in the near future.

Talking with senior sources at BMW’s M division, reports suggest that engineers are hard at work plotting out a mid-engined, twin-turbo V8 supercar based off the current i8, hopefully sometime by 2016. Just around the same time new supercars like the R8, GT-R and NSX will be hitting the market.

The output for the M8 would be estimated somewhere between 640 and 670-hp (480-500kw), and a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) would be managed in just about three seconds. M would even consider keeping in tact the front axle driving electric motor, although early predictions favor a turbocharged non-hybrid V8, which would hypothetically produce the best power-to-weight ratio of any BMW ever built.

As of now, M engineers admit there’s still a lot of work to be done in order to conceive a well thought out, high-performing M8 that would convince BMW execs to green light the project. But their hope is to be able to get the car in the public eye, assuming public demand would lead to production, even if it were in extremely limited numbers (less than 100).

If the supercar did hit the market in 2016, expect a price tag of somewhere near $500K.